Fitness Journey

In the beginning I was a 206lb "flabalicious" fat guy rapidly approaching the big 3-0. So, how am I doing? Today, about seven months in, I weighed 166.6lbs. Over the holidays I went back up to 178 lbs, but now I am working on reaching my goal of 159 lbs, 7% body fat, and a Ninja Warrior ready body.

Despite going to bed at 172.6 lbs a good 15 minute run this morning landed me on the scale at 168.8 lbs. Not only was the weight good, but the run was excellent.

The problem with running is that when you fall off the horse it takes SO LONG to get back on again. For weeks (sometimes months) running can be a chore that hurts your feet, ankles, shins, knees, and lungs. Your stride can feel odd; twenty minute miles leave you feeling ashamed; and you would rather be ANYWHERE doing ANYTHING else, other than running.

But then comes a day like today. Your feet hit the pavement like pistons, firing exactly as programmed. Yeah your sucking air pretty hard BUT your lungs don’t hurt. For that matter, neither do your feet, ankles, shins, or knees. For that firs time you actually enjoy running.

1. Park far away. Let those other lazy louts fight it out for the spot next to the handicap space and ten feet from the main entrance. Park your car on the opposite side of the lot. Not only is it healthier to walk the extra distance across the Wal-mart parking lot, it will lessen the stress of fighting for a parking space close to the door.

Want to go the extra mile? Ditch the cart, it’s for wimps and the elderly. Try carrying that 40lbs bag of dog food and that 25lb package of cat litter to your car.

2. Turn yard work into a workout. Sure working around the yard already burns calories, but you can make it burn more. For example, my most recent back yard jobs involves hauling rocks from one side of the yard to the other. I was using a wheel barrel, but it broke due to the weight of the rocks. So what am I doing now?

Well I ditched that broken wheel barrel and put those two kitty litter buckets to use. Consequently, hauling rock has become a full body workout. How so you ask?!

Shoveling gravel into the empty buckets involves the lower back, the abs, and the arms. It takes about 8 to 9 shovels full of gravel (about 3-4lbs per shovel full) to fill one bucket.

Then picking up both buckets and carrying them to the desired location is the equivalent of a farmers walk with 40-50 lbs in each hand. For extra credit focus on form and try not to let your shoulders droop. If you feel like it throw in a few shrugs between points A and B.

I Set down those buckets and I am very careful not to let them just spill on the ground. I pick one bucket up to waist level as I would in a dead lift and empty it by carefully turning it over with both hands. Can you say upper body workout? Repeat with the second bucket.

When all is said and done I moved 40 bucket loads. So that equates to 320 shovels full of gravel (well over a thousand pounds of gravel according to my math), about twenty farmer’s walks across the yard with 80-100 lbs total in hand, and 40 reps of emptying those buckets.

Yard work can make an excellent exercise if you think it through and try to turn simple yard chores into exercises that you are familiar with.

***Here is the caveat. Always talk with a doctor before beginning or attempting a new fitness regimen. I am not responsible if you try any of the crazy hair brained workouts I use on a day-to-day basis that are contained in this post.***

Will I meet my goal for this two week period of a waist that is one inch slimmer (34 1/2 inches to 33 1/2)? Will I get below 165 lbs? With workouts like the one I had last night, the answer is definitely.

Last night was an awesome combination of multi-joint superset and quadruple superset exercises that pushed my muscles and my cardiovascular abilities to the limits of physical exertion. I worked out from head to toe- nothing left out- with nine simple exercises. Best part is I feel excellent this morning. I woke up ready to confront the world with all the energy of an eighteen year old.

Yesterday, the day started off well with a good interval (running) session at 6:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, when I got home I found out my wife was sick- possibly with strep throat. I definitely don’t want to catch that!

Consequently, I spent most of yesterday taking care of her. As a result I pushed my ab work off to this morning (when I finish typing this) and my full body workout for this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t get strep.

Okay, completion never happens. After all, you have to work hard your whole life to maintain what you have struggled to gain. But here it is day 119 and I am 38 POUNDS lighter– I weighed in at 168.6 this morning. Imagine that, I am more than 80% of the way towards completing my initial goal- reaching my fire department weight (age 18) of 159 lbs. Once there I have some new goals.

So now as I near my initial goal, it seems a good time to establish some new goals. This is what I am thinking…